This invention relates in general to the field of tourniquets and more particularly to a tourniquet device which can be operated with just one hand.
Tourniquets are well known for the purpose of temporarily restricting the flow of blood to a person's injured limb in order to prevent a serious loss of blood. If a person's arm is injured to the extent that significant blood is being lost, another person can generally fashion a tourniquet from available materials, such as a belt, rope, cord, or cloth, and apply it to the injured arm to restrict or stop the bleeding, allowing time to seek medical attention. However, when such an injury occurs where assistance is unavailable and the injured arm is incapacitated or severed, it is difficult if not impossible for the injured person to effectively apply a tourniquet to the injured arm, and depending on the rate of blood loss, the injured person may have only a very short time to stop the bleeding in order to survive. While the need for being able to self-apply a tourniquet to one's injured arm has existed through the ages, heretofore there has not been an effective solution.
The tourniquet device of this invention addresses this problem and provides a solution, providing a tourniquet which can be effectively and quickly applied single-handedly, i.e. using only one hand if necessary. With this invention a person having a seriously injured arm can apply a tourniquet to the injured arm and tighten it with his free (uninjured) hand. This invention can actually be used to quickly and easily apply a tourniquet to any limb, not just an arm, and can of course be applied using two hands, but it is tremendously advantageous in all situations in which only one hand is available to apply a tourniquet. For example, a person with only one usable arm can apply this invention to another person's bleeding limb, especially in situations where the other person is either unconscious or otherwise unable to assist.
Other advantages and attributes of this invention will be readily discernable upon a reading of the text hereinafter.